Did you catch these?

“All that thrills my soul…is stuff?

There it sat. Plunked by the garage door as though dropped from a colossal hand. How I’d missed the delivery truck escaped me. But at least the driver had left my parcel. I knew what that stove-sized box held and it excited me.

I’d given away the comfortable, though cumbersome, hide-a-bed in my home
office. And while I appreciated the space it left, not having a dedicated guest
room, I knew we’d need something sooner than later to accommodate visitors and
grandbeans. So I’d gone on an online safari.

I hunted for weeks without finding anything, let alone something for a song. When finally I snared my target at a large online store, I held my breath and ordered two. A tickle of anticipation bubbled.

But would the chairs live up to their online reviews? Would the colour match
their picture? Would they fit the space? Would they be sturdy enough,
comfortable enough, attractive enough, easy enough to convert? I wanted to KNOW
those chairs, not simply see a photo or read someone else’s experience. And I
couldn’t wait.

I followed my order’s progress online as it made its way from a New Jersey manufacturer to depots in Quebec, then Ontario, Manitoba and finally Saskatchewan. I sensed it getting closer, but that very day, the tracking site had noted my order wouldn’t arrive for another week. It thrilled me to find it early.

I’m sitting in one of the chairs as I write this. I’ve also slept in it.
Except for their colour (slightly darker than pictured) and a bit of an
assembly glitch on one chair—they’re perfect. Everything I hoped for. That
tickles me.

But this niggles: Sometimes—even often—my delight in and preoccupation with stuff eclipses my delight in my Saviour. The God I lean on in troubled times, in whom I rest my weary soul, under whose wings I shelter in life’s storms. And in whose Word I find vital guidance for all of life.

I’ve confessed that to Jesus. Thanked him for so often providing the
material things we need, and some we simply want. But I’ve let him know I’m
aiming for better. I want to anticipate what I’ll find in his Word more than I
did what I’d find in that box. I want to sing, “All that thrills my soul is Jesus;
he is more than life to me,” and mean it. I want to experience him for myself,
not simply read others’ reviews.

Because I know this: no stuff, no experience, relationship or adventure can
satisfy more than Jesus Christ. When we have everything but a relationship with
him, we have nothing. And when we have nothing but him, we have everything.

Father, when I’m blinded by the new and shiny, remind me.

Author: Kathleen Gibson

Writer, speaker, and broadcaster, Kathleen Gibson's passions for faith, home, family, and creation are evident in her award-winning writing. The author of two books, West Nile Diary and Practice by Practice, she has also published hundreds of columns and magazine articles in media outlets from local to global. Both her weekly newspaper column, Sunny Side Up, and radio spot, Simple Words, explore the connection between everyday life and Christian faith.